Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is a serious and sometimes life-threatening eating disorder affecting mainly young women. People with bulimia, known as bulimics, consume large amounts of food (binge) and then try to rid themselves of the food and calories (purge) by fasting, excessive exercise, vomiting, or using laxatives. The behavior often serves to reduce stress and relieve anxiety. Because bulimia results from an excessive concern with weight control and self-image, and is often accompanied by depression, it is also considered a psychiatric illness.

Causes

Bulimia is more common among those who have a close relative with the condition. The percentage risk that is estimated to be due to genetics is between 30% and 80%. Other risk factors for the disease include psychological stress, cultural pressure for a certain body type, poor self-esteem, and obesity. Living in a culture that promotes dieting and having parents that worry about weight are also risks. Diagnosis is based on a person's medical history, however this is difficult as people are usually secretive about their binge eating and purging habits. Furthermore, the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa takes precedence over that of bulimia. Other similar disorders include binge eating disorder, Kleine-Levin syndrome, and borderline personality disorder

Treatment

Cognitive behavioural therapy is the primary treatment for bulimia. It works to solve current problems and change unhelpful thinking and behaviour. The name refers to behaviour therapy, cognitive therapy, and therapy based upon a combination of basic behavioural and cognitive principles. Most therapists working with patients dealing with anxiety and depression use a blend of cognitive and behavioural therapy. This technique acknowledges that there may be behaviours that cannot be controlled through rational thought, but rather emerge based on prior conditioning from the environment and other external and/or internal stimuli. CBT is "problem focused" (undertaken for specific problems) and "action oriented" (therapist tries to assist the client in selecting specific strategies to help address those problems, or directive in its therapeutic approach. It is different from the more traditional, psychoanalytical approach, where therapists look for the unconscious meaning behind the behaviours and then diagnose the patient. Instead, behaviourists believe that disorders, such as depression, have to do with the relationship between a feared stimulus and an avoidance response, resulting in a conditioned fear, much like Ivan Pavlov.